Monthly Archives: November 2011

Now that the sun sets completely by 4:30, I’m sad that my evening commutes are always in the dark. On the bright side, this gives me the opportunity to enjoy all the beautiful lights that are now decorating downtown for the holidays. Kind of makes my commutes feel magical.

Of course, I have my own lights, too, but those are not pretty.

Maybe this will be the year when I finally take the time to figure out how to string Oma with Christmas lights. :)

Our last Nashville bike brunch was on November 13. We decided to ride downtown and check out the new Fleet Street Pub. The day was sunny and warm, but the wind gusts (40+ mph!) kept the crowd small.

Kermit Allegra and I met Whitney on Belmont Boulevard. I had a while to wait, so I amused myself by taking a few photos. The wind was so strong I had to hold onto the bike at times to keep it from falling over!

Kermit Allegra coyly shows off her new basket

Still, we made it downtown, as this photo of Whitney can attest.

Whitney on Broadway

Tourists and traffic meant walking the bikes most of the way to Printer’s Alley.

Conversations on crafting, cycling and thrifting had me so absorbed that I forgot to take a picture of my beer or delicious meal until it looked like this.

If you live in Nashville and would like to join our bike brunches and themed rides, send me an email! December plans are still up in the air, but I’m planning my long-discussed Rhinestone Cowboy Ride for January 14. :)

Wow, only five more days until December! Hard to believe that winter and the year’s end are so close. Chicago’s weather has been mercifully mild and is predicted to remain so through the rest of November. I’ve been getting along fine with cashmere sweaters ($6 at the thrift store) and wool mittens.

This pair of fingerless wool mittens is convenient for fiddling with my bike lock and flipping off drivers (only once, I’m doing better!).

This is my favorite time of year. I’m spending my Thanksgiving holiday reading books (on book #3 today), cooking, and eating, but I also have a couple of LGRAB podcasts, a video, and a bike review in progress – hopefully for next week.

I hope everyone else is having a mild season and enjoying the holiday!

Last Thursday I went to a meeting at the Farmer’s Market before work, and it made for a good opportunity to show you a couple of their new(ish) bike racks that were installed last summer. I chose to lock Kermit Allegra to the cornstalks, which were functional enough as well as pretty.

The tomato bike racks, I’m sorry to say, have not garnered such good reviews.

I’m sure the reason will be obvious to anyone who rides: the only way to secure your bike is by threading a very thin cable lock through the tiny holes of the tomato seeds.

On a more positive note, I was at the market to get an advance look at a “share the road” campaign that Metro Public Works will be launching in Nashville next spring—right around the time the city is set to extend its bike share program. More details on these developments as they move forward . . .

I can’t stand it when other bicyclists pass me on the right. It’s unsafe. Unfortunately, it happens often because there are so many bicyclists and cars in Chicago. I spend a lot of energy trying to ride outside of the door zone (not always successfully); the last thing I need is for a bicyclist to pop up next to me in that dangerous space and take me down with her.

My fancy door zone collage

Yesterday as a woman did this, I said, “please don’t pass me on the right.” She said, “sorry,” and continued on. I have made the same statement to several bicyclists in the past and she was the first to respond. I kinda felt like a jerk. Irrational?

Generally, I feel like I should speak up when someone’s action directly affects my safety. Now I am wondering: should I bother saying anything at all when someone passes me on the right? I don’t want to be overly pedantic or annoying and I don’t want to tarnish anyone’s bike ride. Plus, my speaking up probably has little practical effect, except to raise my stress level. (Do people really not know this is dangerous?)

I’d love to hear what others think on this matter. Do you ever speak up? If so, has anyone ever responded to you? Do you think it does any good?

The Women-Who-Bike group has been coming together for brunch every month for over a year now. November’s brunch was number 13. There were 20 of us, a great mix of regulars and new faces, plus Trisha. I was especially excited to have a group of teenage girls and their mentors from West Town Bike’sGirls Bike Club. (Much more about them in a future post!)

I was so busy eating and gabbing, I managed to take pictures of only a few of the women, so this is merely a sampling of the awesomeness. :)

I must give thanks to Bleeding Heart Bakery and Cafe on Chicago Avenue. Even though they don’t take reservations, they accommodated our large group, plus the food was delicious and our waitress was super sweet.

If you are in Chicago and interested in joining us for brunch, we meet on the first Sunday of the month. Email me at LGRAB [at] letsgorideabike.com to get on the mailing list for the details.

Seeing a bike on the road in Nashville is still a relatively rare occurrence. One of the most frequent comments I get from people when they find out I cycle for transportation is that they just don’t know what to do when they encounter a bike on the road. Generally I’ll mention a few of the most frequent car offenses (veering ahead of me just to turn right; dooring), and say that an easy rule of thumb is that they should behave as they would if the bike were another car—or a tractor or other slow-moving vehicle.

But. If you or someone you know is a driver who’d like further instructions on how to behave when you encounter a cyclist, this article from the blog of the UK site Car Buzz is an excellent resource (just be sure to swap “left” for “right” since they drive on the other side of the road). It urges drivers to put themselves in the cyclist’s place as the more vulnerable road user and informs them of instances where accidents between cyclists and drivers are most likely to occur (which makes it a good read for new cyclists, too).

Posted just yesterday, the article has been making the rounds on bike blogs. It’s refreshing to see a site that focuses on helping people find cars treat cyclists as legitimate traffic and not a nuisance. My favorite tip:

Get on a bike!Not until you experience what it’s like to be a cyclist on a busy road will you truly be able to empathise with them and realise how careless drivers can be at times. Cyclists can too be careless, but it usually ends in them getting hurt, not you!

Not to get too touchy-feely on a Friday, but the world could use more instances of people being willing to put themselves in someone else’s shoes.

It’s too bad that so many New Yorkers still complain about the bike lanes’ contribution to the inconvenience of urban driving instead of promoting them for their obvious role in helping solve the city’s transportation miseries, and for their aesthetic possibilities. I don’t mean they’re great to look at. I mean that for users they offer a different way of taking in the city, its streets and architecture, the fine-grained fabric of its neighborhoods…On a bike time bends. Space expands and contracts.

Reading a glowingly positive article about bike infrastructure in the mainstream media was refreshing and a lot of the author’s optimism can be applied to Chicago or any other city that’s beginning to take bikes seriously. I was especially interested to read that “London has lately turned into a bike capital too.” I’d love to hear what any Londoners out there think about that statement.

Speaking of New York, I found a little bit of NYC in downtown Chicago yesterday. There is a new Magnolia Bakery on State Street.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, Chicago already has lots of delicious cupcake bakeries and doesn’t need New York’s second-hand ideas. On the other hand, CUPCAKES! :)

Hello, there! Sorry for the week’s break from posting. I have a bunch of topics piling up, so there will be more frequent blogging now.

Trisha is visiting Chicago again (for a work conference) so we got to commute downtown together this morning and afternoon. We enjoyed our ride on the Lakefront Trail. The weather created a gloomy but atmospheric setting, with misty rain, fog and a placid lake. This effect was exaggerated on the way home, since it was raining a bit and completely dark by 4:30 p.m. due to daylight savings time (I hope everyone has good lights!).

Ever the optimists, we used this as an excuse to tuck into a Scottish pub for fish & chips and whiskey. That’s one reason to like colder weather! :)

Trisha and Coco

Me and Betty

Lakefront Trail

Sadly, the rain is supposed to pick up tomorrow and we’ll probably be taking the L train.

During my Denver vacation, I spent a day in nearby Fort Collins, Colorado. Melissa, Chanh, Mr. Dottie, and I went on a bike tour of the city’s breweries. Melissa mapped out an ambitious plan to hit all seven, but a late start, early return time for the bikes, and a lot of beer sampling lowered that number to three.

Our first stop was the Fort Collins Bike Library to pick up free bikes. That’s right: free. The Bike Library is a non-profit that lends out bikes like a library (get it?).

The Bike Library is located in a small hut in the middle of the downtown pedestrian plaza. Once we signed a waiver and provided credit card information, we were free to pick out the bikes. Many were unrideable due to needed repairs, but lucky for us, several were left in good condition.

I scored a Jamis Commuter, the first bike I owned as an adult. This was a very nice version, complete with 8-geared internal hub, chain guard, fenders and generator lights, although it made a crazy noise and the fenders were bent up.

Melissa tried out the bakfiets (awesome!)…

But went with a cute blue cruiser.

Chanh and Greg chose/were left with red single speeds.

Our second stop was CooperSmith’s Brewery, since it is next to the Bike Library and has a pub where we could eat lunch. Also, beer!

Then we set off down the road to our next stop, Odell Brewing. The ride was quick, but most of the route was along the shoulder of a two-way street with faster traffic. Someone with less experience riding among traffic may not be totally comfortable with this route (along Lincoln) but we found a more enjoyable back-streets route for the return trip.

The beer at Odell was AMAZING! Easily among the best beer I’ve ever had, especially the Bourbon Barrel Stout.

About this blog

As two women who practice city cycling with style and think you can too, we started this blog to share our stories, learn more about cycling and encourage others to rediscover the fun of riding a bike. All opinions and reviews are our own, and we are not paid to provide them. Check the "About us" page for more details.